kindergartenorientationhandbook

Daily Schedule

8:40-9:00 Morning Work, Attendance, Lunch Count

9:00-9:20 Calendar, Weather, Share Leader

9:20-10:20 Language Arts Block
Scott-Foresman Reading
Pathways to Reading
Building Blocks

10:20-10:30 Morning Snack

10:30-11:15 Special Class (Art, Music, PE, Library)

11:20-11:35 Recess

11:35-11:55 Math

11:55-12:05 Prepare for lunch

12:05-12:35 Lunch

12:40-1:15 Rest Time

1:15-1:55 Science, Social Studies, Thematic Units

1:55-2:40 Literacy Centers/ Learning Centers

2:40-3:00 Recess

3:00-3:20 Story Time and Closing Acitivites

3:20-3:30 Pack up and Prepare for Dismissal

3:30 Dismissal

Kindergarten Handbook

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	Dear Parents, Welcome to the new school year! I want your child to have a fun and successful year in Kindergarten. Above I have listed the school phone number and my e-mail address. Please feel free to contact me if there are situations that need to be discussed. The best times to reach me by phone at school are from 8:00a.m. -8:30a.m. and 12.50 -1:40p.m. My plan time begins at 1:40 p.m. and I will check my e-mail at that time. I am always willing to schedule a conference with you at any time! About Mrs. Fischer: I graduated from CMSU in Warrensburg in 1989 with a B.S. in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education. I received a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction in 1996. This year marks my nineteenth year in the classroom. I taught first grade during my first seven years of teaching and then moved to kindergarten where I have stayed the past eleven years. I LOVE teaching kindergarten kids! This will be my fourth year at Kearney Elementary and I have also taught at Whiteman Air Force Base, in the Raytown School District and the Blue Springs School District. I live in Kearney with my husband Craig and my two sons (Ryan,7 and Ethan,5). We moved to Kearney from Blue Springs and we love living in a smaller community! I am very happy to be on staff at Kearney Elementary and have found this school to be one of the BEST schools I have worked at in my career. School Hours: School begins promptly at 8:30a.m. and ends at 3:30p.m. Attendance: A successful school experience is the responsibility of the children, the parent and the school. Your child's progress, both academically and socially, is influenced to a great extent by daily participation. Regular attendance without tardiness is important. Transportation If you plan to pick up your child that normally rides the bus or you wish for your child to ride a different bus than usual, you must send a written note or contact the office at 628-4113. Do not rely on your child to tell us this information, because he or she may become confused and relay information incorrectly. If no written note or phone call is received, your child will be sent home by his/her usual method of transportation. School Work Please look in your child’s backpack each day. We send all school news by way of your child. Be positive and value the work your child has done at school. Your child will have a daily folder to carry back and forth to school in his/her backpack. Our Kindergarten Communication Arts Components Animated Literacy: Animated-Literacy is a program created by Jim Stone to help children learn reading and writing with the use of Alphabet Stories, Songs, Gestures and Coloring Pages. Building Blocks for Kindergarten (The K version of The Four Blocks Literacy Model) Building Blocks are a set of goals that when developed in the kindergarten will: • Instill a desire to learn to read and write • Develop phonemic awareness • Encourage letter and sound recognition • Phonemic awareness • Teach essential language and print concepts • Extend vocabulary In addition to these programs I will also focus on a letter of the week using daily activities and weekly homework projects that reinforce letter/letter sound recognition as well as handwriting practice and inventive spelling. We will also begin learning our “Popcorn Words” which is a fun name for sight words beginning 2nd quarter. You will receive information about this at a later date. Our Kindergarten Math Program The Kearney School District recently adopted The Everyday Mathematics Program Everyday Mathematics is a comprehensive pre-kindergarten through 6th grade mathematics curriculum developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, and published by Wright GroupMcGraw-Hill. By developing the curriculum one grade level at a time, the authors were able to carefully map out a sequence of instruction that interweaves concepts from each of these content strands throughout the curriculum. Because very few people learn a new concept or skill the first time they experience it, the curriculum is structured to provide multiple exposures to topics, and frequent opportunities to review and practice skills. A concept or skill that is informally introduced in kindergarten, for example, will be revisited, developed and extended numerous times, and in a variety of contexts, throughout the year and into later grades. In addition to our Everyday Math activities we will do lots of fun literature based and thematic math games and projects in our classroom. Kindergarten Science and Social Studies Kindergarten Science and Social Studies concepts will be taught using trade books, shared big books and charts, experiments and classroom projects that revolve around special topics and themes each month. We will also be receiving our LET’S FIND OUT newspaper each week that teaches the children many science and social studies concepts AND helps us practice our reading skills. We are asking that each child send in $5.00 to receive their weekly newspaper. This fee covers the subscription for your child for the entire year. Let me know if you have any questions about this. If this is a financial burden for your family please let me know and I will gladly have the $5.00 fee covered another way. Thank you! Lunch Lunch money should always be sent in a sealed labeled envelope with your child’s name and my name written on the front of the envelope. Lunch may be purchased for $1.75 each day. You will get a computer statement when your child’s lunch account gets low. Please make checks payable to Kearney Elementary. If you would like a free/reduced lunch form please let me know or contact the school office at 628-4113. Your child may also bring his/her lunch each day. Please label lunch boxes or sacks with your child’s name. If your child brings his/her lunch and would like to purchase milk that day, the cost is .30 cents. Snacks We will have a small snack with milk each afternoon after rest time. The cost of milk is .30 each day and this money will be taken out of your child’s lunch account. I will provide the snacks for the first two weeks of school. If you are able donate crackers or cookies for our snack time it would be greatly appreciated! You may send nonperishable snacks that are individually wrapped or in bulk. These are suggested items: vanilla wafers, fruit snacks, teddy grahams, animal crackers, goldfish, cheez-its, pretzels, etc… I will send home requests for snacks monthly throughout the year as needed. Thank you. Star of the Week I look forward to learning about each student in our room!! Your child will have an opportunity to be our Kindergarten STAR of the WEEK! I will send a schedule home in the next two weeks and we will begin in September. Each child will be asked to bring in a poster that displays family photos, favorite things, or anything that your child wants to display that will help us learn more about him or her. We will make a class keepsake book all about your child that week! Rest, Read or wRite Time Our class will rest for about 20 minutes each day after lunch. Your child is not required to go to sleep but must rest and relax quietly during this time. As the children become familiar with this quiet time routine I will give the children the option to Rest on their towel or Read on their towel. Later on in the year this quiet time will become Rest, Read or wRite time and the children may choose what they’d like to do for their quiet time break. Please send a beach towel to be kept at school for your child to rest on. I will send the towels home each Friday or every other Friday to be washed. Birthdays and Treats Simple treats may be sent to school on your child’s birthday. Sending a birthday treat is optional. Birthday treats are appreciated but certainly not expected. I have reserved a special Birthday Day near the end of the school year in May when we will celebrate all of our summer birthday kids. If your child has a summer birthday you will have an opportunity to send in treats for your child’s birthday at this time. I’ll send home more information about this special day in early May. Book Orders Your child will have the opportunity to order books for your home library each month. The book orders are from Scholastic Books and will be sent home each month attached to a newsletter. The Busy Bee Helper (and show and tell) Sharing Time will begin this week. Each day we will pick a name from our Busy Bee Basket. That child wins the Busy Bee Trophy for the day and he or she will be my special helper for the day and be our line leader. I will give your child a special note to take home that lets you know your child was “The Busy Bee Helper” and you’re your child will be allowed to bring an item for Show and Tell the following day. Show and tell will be at 9:00. Ideas for Show and Tell: a favorite book, stuffed animal, photo, etc. The purpose behind show and tell is to give your child an opportunity to share with others and practice speaking before a small group. After show and tell, a new name will be drawn and a new child will begin his/her day as the helper. If your child accidentally forgets to bring something for show and tell he or she may still bring it the following day. Please Note: Pets are not allowed in our building and Mr. Morrison has requested that no animals be brought for show and tell. Communication: I will send home a weekly newsletter to inform you of classroom activities. I will also send a weekly behavior note home with each child so that you know if your child is staying on track with our classroom rules. All communication will be sent home in your child’s backpack. It is important to check your child’s backpack daily! I remind students each morning that is their responsibility to get their school/home communication folder out of their backpacks daily and put it in the inbox. Please send all notes and money in your child’s home/school communication folder. Discipline Our classroom rules include: Be kind to others Raise your hand to speak Listen while others are talking Keep hands, feet and objects to yourself Always do your best work I believe in having high expectations of the children to follow classroom rules and to help them understand the reasons behind rules. I want all of the children to have the opportunity to learn and for no student to keep another student from being able to learn. I strive to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for the children in which we work and live as a team in our classroom. We use a beehive bulletin board as a visual system in our room to help the kids remember our rules and consider their behavior. Each child begins their day with their bee on the green (go hive). If a child has difficulties following any of our room rules I will give a verbal reminder to the child. If the negative behavior continues the child moves his/her bee to the yellow hive (caution) and has a 5-minute recess loss consequence. If negative behaviors continue the bee is moved to the red hive (stop) and there is a 10-minute recess loss consequence. If for any reason I feel like your child will need a behavior plan I will contact you so that together we can discuss our options. All bees return to green after first recess so that children who may have had to move their bee early in the day have the opportunity to have a green bee the second half of the day. Fighting and/or dangerous behaviors or disruptive behaviors that keep others from learning or being safe may require removal of a student from the classroom and must be reported immediately to our Principal, Mr. Morrison. I will always contact you if a situation occurs in which your child must visit with Mr. Morrison. In addition, I will always contact you by phone if there is ever a situation that needs to be discussed. It is important to me that we keep our lines of communication open and work together to meet the needs of your child. Room Needs Please let me know if you are interested in assisting in special projects, helping with Bulletin Boards, cutting out materials, etc… PTO will be sending home a note about helping with holiday parties. We’ll be doing many fun projects this year in Kindergarten. If you are interested in donating any of the following items to our classroom please send them to school with your child. Thank you! white paper plates Napkins for snack time Play-doh (I try to change the play-doh in that center often) brown lunch sacks Notepads for the writing center Old dolls, Barbie stuff, dishes and clothes for our Home/Kitchen play area Please let me know if you have any questions. I am excited to be your child’s teacher and I plan to provide a safe and fun learning environment for your child. Thanks for sharing your child with me! Sincerely, Mrs. Fischer Special Class Schedule Day 1 Art and Music Day 2 Library (The kids will check out books on day 2) and PE (Wear tennis shoes on PE day!) Day 3 Art and Music Day 4 Library and PE (Wear tennis shoes on PE day!) We are on a 4-day rotation schedule. You will receive a calendar to help you keep track of the days!